Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun The area of shore lying between the average high-tide mark and the vegetation, affected by waves only during severe storms.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun geology An upper shore zone above high-tide.
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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On the constantly shifting sands of the "backshore" of Provincetown, a number of tiny structures sit, precariously perched.
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However, rapid backshore erosion is also likely to increase the rate at which terrestrial permafrost is exposed to coastal conditions, leading to warming of terrestrial permafrost in the backshore environment.
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High rates of erosion caused by exposure to waves and storm surges during the open water season lead to deep thermal notch development in cliffs, block failure in the backshore (area reached only by the highest tides), melting of sea-level-straddling massive ice, and possible offshore thermokarst development [72].
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The projected increase in air temperature (section 4.4.2) is likely to increase backshore thermokarst development, resulting in more rapid input of material to, and sediment deposition in, the coastal environment.
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Longer open-water seasons, resulting from projected decreases in sea ice cover (section 6.3.3), are likely to expose coastal environments to more storms, resulting in increased rates of backshore erosion.
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The Sapelo Island Reserve habitats include a sand-sharing system comprised of shoreface, foreshore, backshore and dune components; an extensive band of salt marsh (comprising two-thirds of the reserve) and some 2,300 acres of upland forest, dominated by stands of oak hardwoods and pines.
Sapelo Island National Estuarine Research Reserve, Georgia 2008
skipvia commented on the word backshore
The part of a beach that is usually dry, reached only during the highest tides.
November 11, 2007